MAY 2-3, 2012: In an effort to cooperate with federal prosecutors, Harry “Ray” Soucy makes calls to both Josh Nassi and Chris Donovan. He shares with Nassi that he’s had a heart attack, and uses the health issue to apply pressure to Nassi to get him to confirm Donovan’s support for the defeat of the RYO legislation.
In the first call to Nassi (Exhibit 56a), Soucy is essentially asking Nassi if Donovan is on board. Here’s part of the transcript:
HRS: Ya know, is Chris good with this? Because like I-
JN: Yeah.
HRS: Alright, ya know, that’s alii need to be able to tell these guys is that Chris is good with this. And they’re gonna, they’re, they’ll be happy. They’ll hopefully let me rest a little bit to get over this fucking shit because ya – they were calling me in the fucking hospital.
JN: Shit man.
HRS: Ya know, it’s all about the 200 million dollar payoff at the end for them.
JN: I hear ya.
HRS: That’s the bottom line. They don’t, they don’t give a shit about jobs, they don’t give a shit about nothing. They give a shit about their 200 million. Ya know, and, and, just want me to be able to tell them that they ain’t throwing away money for nothing.
JN: Right.
HRS: And ya know, like I said if you tell me Chris is good and I can tell them that, that, that will relieve a whole bunch a shit off of my plate.
JN: Yup . . . I hear you man. I am uh (laughing) ya know doing everything I can like I said.
In Exhibits 57a and 58a (call was dropped), Soucy asks Donovan for assurances that the RYO bill is dead. Donovan’s eventual response is “Yeah I know, but you know, Ray, I gotta, I gotta deal with stuff here too. So I hear you Ray, loud and clear and I understand where they’re coming from, right? And I’m workin for it. Okay?”
Donovan has since been reported as having said he was surprised and put off by the fact that Soucy brought up the bill during the call. But the transcript of the two calls, 57a and 58a, show that the conversation wasn’t about Soucy’s health. Soucy pressures Donovan for assurances before the first call drops. Rather than letting it go because he had brought up the bill , Donovan points out to Soucy in the second call that he had tried to call Soucy back himself after the call dropped. So rather than end the conversation about the RYO legislation, he called back and let Soucy know he was working on the problem. If Donovan was put off by the topic, it’s not clear why he then called back.
In Exhibit 59a, Soucy calls Nassi the following morning and says there’s another $10,000 on the table as long as the bill doesn’t survive the session.
Provided as evidence by federal prosecutors in the trial of Robert Braddock Jr.
